The Great Salem Un-SORASing Project, Part 3

Here comes the latest edition of my caffeine- and lunacy-fueled Days history project, in which I go year-by-year through the show’s stories and, while doing my best to preserve the tentpoles (castings, couplings, story turns), rewrite things to eliminate Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome (SORASing). This means that certain characters wind up being far too young to have the stories they had onscreen, and they therefore have to be replaced by characters from the show’s history who would be the appropriate age for those stories.

Part 1 covers 1965-1979, and Part 2 spans 1980-89. In Part 3, I’m taking on the first half of the 90s, because things are complicated now. As with the last edition, I’ll start with a summary of what actually happened in a given year, followed by my thoughts on what SORASing issues exist and how I think we can solve them, and finally, I’ll include a revised version of that year’s summary with SORAS-related changes made in italics.

Rick Hearst plays Julie’s son, David, in our
new timeline — not her grandson, Scotty.

1990

As it happened: Victor holds Kayla captive in exchange for the key. Jennifer breaks a vase, revealing the key, and Jack and Isabella deliver it to Victor. Jack keeps a copy and goes to Italy, where he uncovers the diary of Loretta Toscano, Isabella and Marina’s mom, and steals several pages. Roman helps Yvette escape from Victor and sends her away from Salem. Julie Williams returns to town. Nick recovers and has his marriage to April annulled. She gets engaged to Mike, but he goes to tend to a medical emergency in Japan and tells her not to follow. Later, she learns he is in Israel with Robin and Jeremy. Kayla stands trial for Marina’s murder and goes into labor on the witness stand. She has a daughter, Stephanie. Steve hires a nanny named Sheila to help out, but the unstable woman kidnaps the baby. Kayla, having been found guilty, breaks out of prison to go to Australia with Steve to find their daughter. There, they encounter Bo Brady and eventually rescue Stephanie. Victor has a tape revealing that Isabella accidentally caused Marina’s death during a struggle. Cal conspires to keep Shane from recovering his memory and causes Rebecca’s death when he tampers with her brakes. He kidnaps Kimberly, but Shane rescues her. When she learns she is pregnant, she fears Cal is the father and eventually skips town to be free of him. Justin and Adrienne divorce, and Anjelica tries to kill Adrienne in a building explosion but fails. Anjelica flees town with her and Justin’s son, and their plane crashes — but, unbeknownst to everyone, they never boarded the flight. Faith undergoes physical therapy for her paralysis and, when Scott is admitted to Stanford, leaves Salem with him. Harper manipulates Jack into helping him get parole, and when Jennifer tries to intervene, she earns Jack’s ire. Harper tries to kill Kayla and Steve as they are remarrying, but Jack stops him in time, and Harper plummets to his death. Jennifer accepts Emilio’s marriage proposal. Jack kidnaps her from the wedding but remains unable to admit that he loves her. Isabella’s father, Ernesto Toscano, is secretly alive and arranges for his henchman, Johnny Corelli, to have plastic surgery and take over Bo’s life. Bo and Johnny join forces and switch places to one-up Ernesto, who lures several Salemites onto his Cruise of Deception, where he plans to kill them. The missing diary pages turn up and reveal that Victor is Isabella’s father. Ernesto detonates a bomb on the ship. When they wash up on an island, Jack and Jennifer make love for the first time. Julie and Victor grow closer during the experience, as do Roman and Isabella. Ernesto tries to escape and traps Hope in a cage over acid, and after the cage explodes, neither is found. Bo is determined to find Hope but finally has to accept that she is dead. Justin and Adrienne remarry and honeymoon in Tahiti, where they meet Dr. Carly Manning. She is in danger but soon comes to Salem. Jennifer knows Carly — who is really heiress Katerina von Leuschner — from boarding school. Carly is betrothed to Lawrence Alamain, but he thinks Jennifer is Katerina because of a teenage prank. Sarah Horton has a crush on Emilio, who is now with Melissa. Sarah and Carrie Brady get mixed up with film producers planning to shoot a vampire movie in Salem; Carrie gets in trouble for drugs, while Sarah is almost killed in a fire. Maggie discovers that Neil is really Sarah’s biological father. Eve and Nick get together, and Julie wants the land that Nick’s club, Wings, occupies. Shawn Douglas falls down a mineshaft and loses his hearing. Determined to take down the Jencon oil company, Bo becomes the Riverfront Raider. Carly helps him. Lawrence comes to Salem and is involved with Jencon, which puts Bo in his crosshairs. Jennifer against poses as Katerina. While staking out a secret Jencon meeting with Bo, Steve is injured and falls into the river. He lands in a coma but looks primed to recover — until Lawrence has his IV poisoned. Steve dies, but later, someone switches his coffin with another. Nick is arrested for Steve’s murder but later seems to die in an explosion, but it’s revealed that he was shot prior to it; Eve, Emilio, Johnny, and April are all suspects. Lawrence lures Jennifer to his family’s country in Europe, and other Salemites follow. Jennifer is forced to marry Lawrence, who rapes her. Jack has a sword fight with Lawrence to save Jen, but she is unable to tell him about her rape and lashes out at him for having raped Kayla. Carly wants to save her kidnapped brother — who turns out to be Frankie Brady, a.k.a. Francois von Leuschner. Bo realizes Carly plans to trade him for Frankie. Lawrence triggers an earthquake, which leaves Victor paralyzed and mute. Frankie still has feelings for Jennifer. Adrienne and Justin remarry and plan to adopt JJ Bagwell’s baby, which turns out to be twin boys, whom they name Joey and Victor. Adrienne discovers she’s pregnant and has to have risky surgery. Marcus develops feelings for widowed Kayla. Away from Salem, Kim has a daughter, Jeannie. Kayla intervenes to help Shane communicate with Kim and see his son, Andrew. Bo receives probation and community service for his deeds as the Riverfront Raider. Lawrence throws a New Year’s Eve murder mystery party — where, following an argument with Justin, Emilio is found dead.

Notes: This is actually a pretty easy year to un-SORAS. Just have to switch out the Hope, Melissa, Jennifer, and Scott characters for their age-appropriate substitutions. There’s a bit of a headache brewing, as Carrie and Sarah were both thrust into minor teen storylines around this time, but I think we can solve that by swapping them out with Jessica Blake (remember her?) and Hope Williams, who would be teens in real time around now. Also, the character of Jeannie — born this year to Kim and Shane — is our modern-day Theresa, and interestingly, her birth year actually lines up with the stories she gets as an adult character! Amazing. Stephanie, also born this year, will be a little trickier once we get to the mid-2000s, but I’m just going to put that out of my head for now.

The revised story: Victor holds Kayla captive in exchange for the key. Melissa breaks a vase, revealing the key, and Jack and Isabella deliver it to Victor. Jack keeps a copy and goes to Italy, where he uncovers the diary of Loretta Toscano, Isabella and Marina’s mom, and steals several pages. Roman helps Yvette escape from Victor and sends her away from Salem. Julie Williams returns to town. Nick recovers and has his marriage to April annulled. She gets engaged to Mike, but he goes to tend to a medical emergency in Japan and tells her not to follow. Later, she learns he is in Israel with Robin and Jeremy. Kayla stands trial for Marina’s murder and goes into labor on the witness stand. She has a daughter, Stephanie. Steve hires a nanny named Sheila to help out, but the unstable woman kidnaps the baby. Kayla, having been found guilty, breaks out of prison to go to Australia with Steve to find their daughter. There, they encounter Bo Brady and eventually rescue Stephanie. Victor has a tape revealing that Isabella accidentally caused Marina’s death during a struggle. Cal conspires to keep Shane from recovering his memory and causes Rebecca’s death when he tampers with her brakes. He kidnaps Kimberly, but Shane rescues her. When she learns she is pregnant, she fears Cal is the father and eventually skips town to be free of him. Justin and Adrienne divorce, and Anjelica tries to kill Adrienne in a building explosion but fails. Anjelica flees town with her and Justin’s son, and their plane crashes — but, unbeknownst to everyone, they never boarded the flight. Faith undergoes physical therapy for her paralysis and, when David is admitted to Stanford, leaves Salem with him. Harper manipulates Jack into helping him get parole, and when Melissa tries to intervene, she earns Jack’s ire. Harper tries to kill Kayla and Steve as they are remarrying, but Jack stops him in time, and Harper plummets to his death. Melissa accepts Emilio’s marriage proposal. Jack kidnaps her from the wedding but remains unable to admit that he loves her. Isabella’s father, Ernesto Toscano, is secretly alive and arranges for his henchman, Johnny Corelli, to have plastic surgery and take over Bo’s life. Bo and Johnny join forces and switch places to one-up Ernesto, who lures several Salemites onto his Cruise of Deception, where he plans to kill them. The missing diary pages turn up and reveal that Victor is Isabella’s father. Ernesto detonates a bomb on the ship. When they wash up on an island, Jack and Melissa make love for the first time. Julie and Victor grow closer during the experience, as do Roman and Isabella. Ernesto tries to escape and traps Olivia in a cage over acid, and after the cage explodes, neither is found. Bo is determined to find Olivia but finally has to accept that she is dead. Justin and Adrienne remarry and honeymoon in Tahiti, where they meet Dr. Carly Manning. She is in danger but soon comes to Salem. Melissa knows Carly — who is really heiress Katerina von Leuschner — from boarding school. Carly is betrothed to Lawrence Alamain, but he thinks Melissa is Katerina because of a teenage prank. Hope Williams has a crush on Emilio, who is now with Janice. Jessica Blake and Hope Williams get mixed up with film producers planning to shoot a vampire movie in Salem; Jessica gets in trouble for drugs, while young Sarah Horton is almost killed when a fire breaks out. Maggie discovers that Neil is really Sarah’s biological father. Eve and Nick get together, and Julie wants the land that Nick’s club, Wings, occupies. Shawn Douglas falls down a mineshaft and loses his hearing. Determined to take down the Jencon oil company, Bo becomes the Riverfront Raider. Carly helps him. Lawrence comes to Salem and is involved with Jencon, which puts Bo in his crosshairs. Melissa against poses as Katerina. While staking out a secret Jencon meeting with Bo, Steve is injured and falls into the river. He lands in a coma but looks primed to recover — until Lawrence has his IV poisoned. Steve dies, but later, someone switches his coffin with another. Nick is arrested for Steve’s murder but later seems to die in an explosion, but it’s revealed that he was shot prior to it; Eve, Emilio, Johnny, and April are all suspects. Lawrence lures Melissa to his family’s country in Europe, and other Salemites follow. Melissa is forced to marry Lawrence, who rapes her. Jack has a sword fight with Lawrence to save Melissa, but she is unable to tell him about her rape and lashes out at him for having raped Kayla. Carly wants to save her kidnapped brother — who turns out to be Frankie Brady, a.k.a. Francois von Leuschner. Bo realizes Carly plans to trade him for Frankie. Lawrence triggers an earthquake, which leaves Victor paralyzed and mute. Frankie still has feelings for Jennifer. Adrienne and Justin remarry and plan to adopt JJ Bagwell’s baby, which turns out to be twin boys, whom they name Joey and Victor. Adrienne discovers she’s pregnant and has to have risky surgery. Marcus develops feelings for widowed Kayla. Away from Salem, Kim has a daughter, Jeannie. Kayla intervenes to help Shane communicate with Kim and see his son, Andrew. Bo receives probation and community service for his deeds as the Riverfront Raider. Lawrence throws a New Year’s Eve murder mystery party — where, following an argument with Justin, Emilio is found dead.

1991

As it happened: Detective Brian Scofield investigates Emilio’s death and gets closer to Melissa. His brother, Tanner, claims to have information about the killing. Julie and Victor team up to take down Lawrence. After Carly and Frankie sign the von Leuschner fortune over to Lawrence, he grants Jennifer a divorce and charms Kimberly. Eve hopes to marry Frankie so she can collect the inheritance Nick has left her. Jack marries her instead. Johnny is coercing Tanner to claim he knows Eve is the killer. Melissa takes a job singing on a train, and a group of Salemites take the trip. Johnny has the train derailed. The survivors encounter mountain girl Molly Brinker, who shows Eve how to get to safety, but Eve takes credit for the rescue. Jo confesses to having killed Nick as payback for Steve’s death. Melissa is revealed to have killed Emilio by accident. Jennifer tells Jack about the rape, presses charges against Lawrence,  and seeks rape counseling. Molly moves to Salem and exposes Eve’s ruse. Julie offers to pay Eve to divorce Jack, and Eve leaves for Africa with Frankie. Carrie goes to live with Anna in New York. Justin learns Alexander is alive and reunites with his son. He and Adrienne move their family to Dallas. Sarah catches Maggie and Neil having an affair. She drugs Neil and takes photos of herself in bed with him to cause a scandal. Maggie is forced to admit that Neil is Sarah’s biological father. Sarah moves to Nashville with Melissa. Shane enlists Kayla to work on a cure for a mysterious virus. Kim is assigned as Shane’s new ISA partner and spies him kissing Kayla. Victor regains the use of his legs and celebrates with Carly, who soon accepts his marriage proposal. Shawn Douglas gets his hearing back. Kayla and Shane’s relationship causes tension in the Brady family. Emmy Borden, who wants Bo, conspires with Victor to keep Carly and Bo apart. Carly marries Victor. Kimberly insists her closeness with Lawrence won’t interfere with her ISA mission and accompanies him back to his home country. Lawrence learns he had a brother who drowned as a child and his father drugged him to forget. Carly is unable to consummate her marriage to Victor. Emmy steals some of the mystery virus from the lab to poison Carly, but Bo ingests it instead. Lawrence is convicted of spousal rape. Kim is shaken but outwardly stands by him in hopes of obtaining the cure for the virus, which he has. Carly gets the cure and saves a dying Bo. Victor has his men rig an elevator to kill Bo, but Carly is injured instead. Victor fakes his death and sets up Carly for his murder but is revealed to be alive. Cal escapes from prison and comes after Kim. She and Shane learn that Jeannie is Shane’s daughter. Cal kidnaps Kayla but is captured. Jack and Jennifer finally marry and honeymoon in Hollywood, where a grifter named Hawk sets his sights on them and follows them back to Salem. His grandfather, Howard, poses as a homeless man and then fakes his death. In Arizona, a woman named Ginger Dawson reads of Howard’s death and travels to Salem. Hawk and Howard fear she will blow their scam. Ginger is secretly Molly’s mother. Hawk uses a phony stock deal to con Jack out of money, and Jack goes on the run, thinking he has shot an FBI agent. As Roman and Isabella get engaged, Marlena Evans wakes up on an island, escapes from the clinic where she’s being held, and finds her way onto a plane. She sees Roman with Isabella before they finally come face-to-face on the pier. She has memories of him being at the clinic, too — but, back on the island, the real Roman (Roman-1) is still being held! Marlena tags along with Roman-2 to investigate, and when Isabella tails them to tell Roman-2 she is pregnant, she sees them kissing. Each of the Romans claim the other is an impostor, and the Bradys are divided. DNA tests prove that Roman-1 is the real Roman Brady. Roman-2 (John Black) realizes that he was planted to replace Roman. He, Roman, and Marlena travel to Mexico to learn more, and both Victor and Lawrence follow, hoping to obtain some ancient scrolls. Stefano DiMera appears and offers to trade information on John’s past for the scrolls. Stefano is shot and killed. The satchel relating to John contains only a locket. While in Mexico, Bo and Carly exchange vows. Julie becomes involved with a younger man, Dr. Chip Lakin. Jo tells Jennifer that Jack did not want to leave her.

Notes: I’m thrilled that Melissa is gone, because it clears up my constant confusion about changing her to Janice and changing Jennifer to Melissa even though they’re in the same damn stories. Gah! The only big thing to deal with is this horror-inducing Sarah/Neil thing, which is gross already but even grosser in a world in which Sarah is only 9 or 10 years old. I’m going to hand that stuff off to Marie’s daughter, Jessica, though sadly this is the most story she’ll get.

The revised story: Detective Brian Scofield investigates Emilio’s death and gets closer to Janice. His brother, Tanner, claims to have information about the killing. Julie and Victor team up to take down Lawrence. After Carly and Frankie sign the von Leuschner fortune over to Lawrence, he grants Melissa a divorce and charms Kimberly. Eve hopes to marry Frankie so she can collect the inheritance Nick has left her. Jack marries her instead. Johnny is coercing Tanner to claim he knows Eve is the killer. Janice takes a job singing on a train, and a group of Salemites take the trip. Johnny has the train derailed. The survivors encounter mountain girl Molly Brinker, who shows Eve how to get to safety, but Eve takes credit for the rescue. Jo confesses to having killed Nick as payback for Steve’s death. Janice is revealed to have killed Emilio by accident. Jennifer tells Jack about the rape, presses charges against Lawrence,  and seeks rape counseling. Molly moves to Salem and exposes Eve’s ruse. Julie offers to pay Eve to divorce Jack, and Eve leaves for Africa with Frankie. Carrie goes to live with Anna in New York. Justin learns Alexander is alive and reunites with his son. He and Adrienne move their family to Dallas. Jessica, who is babysitting Sarah, catches Maggie and Neil having an affair. Jessica harbors resentment against Neil for what happened during his marriage to her mother, Marie. She drugs Neil and takes photos of herself in bed with him to cause a scandal. Maggie is forced to admit that Neil is Sarah’s biological father. Melissa moves to Nashville, while Jessica leaves Salem to join her mother. Shane enlists Kayla to work on a cure for a mysterious virus. Kim is assigned as Shane’s new ISA partner and spies him kissing Kayla. Victor regains the use of his legs and celebrates with Carly, who soon accepts his marriage proposal. Shawn Douglas gets his hearing back. Kayla and Shane’s relationship causes tension in the Brady family. Emmy Borden, who wants Bo, conspires with Victor to keep Carly and Bo apart. Carly marries Victor. Kimberly insists her closeness with Lawrence won’t interfere with her ISA mission and accompanies him back to his home country. Lawrence learns he had a brother who drowned as a child and his father drugged him to forget. Carly is unable to consummate her marriage to Victor. Emmy steals some of the mystery virus from the lab to poison Carly, but Bo ingests it instead. Lawrence is convicted of spousal rape. Kim is shaken but outwardly stands by him in hopes of obtaining the cure for the virus, which he has. Carly gets the cure and saves a dying Bo. Victor has his men rig an elevator to kill Bo, but Carly is injured instead. Victor fakes his death and sets up Carly for his murder but is revealed to be alive. Cal escapes from prison and comes after Kim. She and Shane learn that Jeannie is Shane’s daughter. Cal kidnaps Kayla but is captured. Jack and Melissa finally marry and honeymoon in Hollywood, where a grifter named Hawk sets his sights on them and follows them back to Salem. His grandfather, Howard, poses as a homeless man and then fakes his death. In Arizona, a woman named Ginger Dawson reads of Howard’s death and travels to Salem. Hawk and Howard fear she will blow their scam. Ginger is secretly Molly’s mother. Hawk uses a phony stock deal to con Jack out of money, and Jack goes on the run, thinking he has shot an FBI agent. As Roman and Isabella get engaged, Marlena Evans wakes up on an island, escapes from the clinic where she’s being held, and finds her way onto a plane. She sees Roman with Isabella before they finally come face-to-face on the pier. She has memories of him being at the clinic, too — but, back on the island, the real Roman (Roman-1) is still being held! Marlena tags along with Roman-2 to investigate, and when Isabella tails them to tell Roman-2 she is pregnant, she sees them kissing. Each of the Romans claim the other is an impostor, and the Bradys are divided. DNA tests prove that Roman-1 is the real Roman Brady. Roman-2 (John Black) realizes that he was planted to replace Roman. He, Roman, and Marlena travel to Mexico to learn more, and both Victor and Lawrence follow, hoping to obtain some ancient scrolls. Stefano DiMera appears and offers to trade information on John’s past for the scrolls. Stefano is shot and killed. The satchel relating to John contains only a locket. While in Mexico, Bo and Carly exchange vows. Julie becomes involved with a younger man, Dr. Chip Lakin. Jo tells Melissa that Jack did not want to leave her.

1992

As it happened: Hawk falls for Jennifer, but she and Jack finally expose his con. Jennifer discovers she is pregnant, but Jack is mistakenly diagnosed as being terminally ill. An explosion leaves Shane paralyzed from the waist down, making him reluctant to be physical with Kayla. A woman named Danielle Stevens claims John is really her husband, as they have matching lockets, but he doesn’t recognize her. He later fears that he is the jewel thief Romulus, but it turns out Danielle is Romulus. John lets her escape. Roman investigates the Torres crime family, causing Bo to be kidnapped, but he is saved. Carly discovers that the child she had with Lawrence didn’t die at birth, and she and Bo try to find the boy. Lawrence’s aunt, Vivian Alamain, comes to Salem. John learns that he is Lawrence’s presumed-dead brother, Forrest Alamain. Carrie Brady returns and develops a crush on Lawrence, who uses her for information. The Lombard family, represented by attorney Lisanne Gardner, sues the hospital for malpractice after their son’s death. Kayla is fired as a result of cutbacks pertaining to the lawsuit, but the defendants are found not to be at fault. Kayla takes Stephanie and moves to Los Angeles. Tanner is estranged from his father, Vern, because of the mystery surrounding his mother’s death. Molly learns that Ginger is her mother. Molly’s boss, Gavin Newirth, makes a pass at her and later tries to rape her. Tanner learns that his mother committed suicide after Gavin did the same to her. Molly and Tanner pursue a relationship and later leave town together, while Brian moves to Chicago with Ginger. Chip Lakin leaves town, and Julie can’t give him a reason to stay. John goes after his portion of the Alamain fortune. Isabella goes into labor during her wedding to John and gives birth to a son, Brady. Lisanne and Lawrence have an affair, while Carly plans to marry Bo. After Shawn is critically injured during a hold-up at the Brady Fish Market, John and Isabella buy a pub for him and Caroline to run. Isabella learns she has pancreatic cancer and urges Bo to reconcile with Victor. In Italy, Isabella dies in John’s arms. Bo joins the Salem PD. Kimberly returns, now engaged to Philip Collier. A drunk Roger Lombard runs down her and Shane. Shane finally overcomes his paralysis. Roger’s wife, Stella, is envious when Marlena helps Roger and thinks Marlena is trying to steal Roger. She throws Marlena into a pit in an old warehouse. Stella plans to skip town but is killed before she can reveal Marlena’s whereabouts. The warehouse is demolished, but John saves Marlena. Shane accepts an ISA assignment in Europe and leaves Salem. Vivian and Victor spend time together. A boy, Nicholas, arrives in Salem to see Vivian. She claims that she adopted him from an unwed maid, but he is really Carly and Lawrence’s son. Lisanne learns the truth and argues with Vivian; Nicholas, trying to protect Vivian, shoves Lisanne, causing her death. Vivian has a heart attack when she fears the truth will come out. Lawrence covers up the death to protect Nikki. Victor reveals that Vivian plans to skip town with Nikki, so Carly runs out on her wedding to Bo. Vivian double-crosses Victor and takes Nikki to a secret location, but Bo recovers him and returns him to his parents. Carrie becomes interested in her neighbor, Austin Reed, who is secretly running a gambling ring. She gets him a job playing piano at Wings, and his sister, Billie, becomes the new singer. Carrie “kidnaps” Austin to stop him from participating in a fixed boxing match, unaware that he knows it’s fixed and needs the money. Jack learns that he isn’t dying after all. Jennifer gives birth to their daughter, Abigail. Jack finds a manuscript in their attic, edits it, and shops it to publishers under the name Miranda Miller. Jennifer works on a talk show in New York with Calliope. Jack and Jen ask for Bill’s help buying The Spectator from Julie. Kimberly exhibits multiple personalities and, while one of her alters is in control, accidentally stabs a man who tries to assault her. Her alter sends the kids to Europe to be with Shane. Philip realizes what is happening. Roman tries to confront Kim but is shot. He lands in a coma.

Notes: Here comes one of the big changes we need to make in order to have the 90s make any damn sense at all. Carrie Brady would only be 14-15 in 1992, which isn’t too young to have a crush on Lawrence (I guess?) but is too young to be involved with him in any kind of way. (This was when Christie Clark was let go and Tracy Middendorf was briefly brought on to play Carrie, BTW.) I’m going to go ahead and make a swap here, which is that the character of adult Carrie becomes Hope Williams, who should be 18 this year and is primed for story. This will have repercussions down the line, but it also has the benefit of keeping the Hortons prominent as that character’s story builds. Brady Black is also born this year, and he’ll be the victim of some serious SORASing in not too long, so this birthdate is important to keep in mind for him — although Abigail, also born this year, is pretty safe. And the fact that Nikki Alamain is a young boy here is going to be an issue shortly, as well.

The revised story: Hawk falls for Melissa, but she and Jack finally expose his con. Melissa discovers she is pregnant, but Jack is mistakenly diagnosed as being terminally ill. An explosion leaves Shane paralyzed from the waist down, making him reluctant to be physical with Kayla. A woman named Danielle Stevens claims John is really her husband, as they have matching lockets, but he doesn’t recognize her. He later fears that he is the jewel thief Romulus, but it turns out Danielle is Romulus. John lets her escape. Roman investigates the Torres crime family, causing Bo to be kidnapped, but he is saved. Carly discovers that the child she had with Lawrence didn’t die at birth, and she and Bo try to find the boy. Lawrence’s aunt, Vivian Alamain, comes to Salem. John learns that he is Lawrence’s presumed-dead brother, Forrest Alamain. Hope Williams returns and develops a crush on Lawrence, who uses her for information. The Lombard family, represented by attorney Lisanne Gardner, sues the hospital for malpractice after their son’s death. Kayla is fired as a result of cutbacks pertaining to the lawsuit, but the defendants are found not to be at fault. Kayla takes Stephanie and moves to Los Angeles. Tanner is estranged from his father, Vern, because of the mystery surrounding his mother’s death. Molly learns that Ginger is her mother. Molly’s boss, Gavin Newirth, makes a pass at her and later tries to rape her. Tanner learns that his mother committed suicide after Gavin did the same to her. Molly and Tanner pursue a relationship and later leave town together, while Brian moves to Chicago with Ginger. Chip Lakin leaves town, and Julie can’t give him a reason to stay. John goes after his portion of the Alamain fortune. Isabella goes into labor during her wedding to John and gives birth to a son, Brady. Lisanne and Lawrence have an affair, while Carly plans to marry Bo. After Shawn is critically injured during a hold-up at the Brady Fish Market, John and Isabella buy a pub for him and Caroline to run. Isabella learns she has pancreatic cancer and urges Bo to reconcile with Victor. In Italy, Isabella dies in John’s arms. Bo joins the Salem PD. Kimberly returns, now engaged to Philip Collier. A drunk Roger Lombard runs down her and Shane. Shane finally overcomes his paralysis. Roger’s wife, Stella, is envious when Marlena helps Roger and thinks Marlena is trying to steal Roger. She throws Marlena into a pit in an old warehouse. Stella plans to skip town but is killed before she can reveal Marlena’s whereabouts. The warehouse is demolished, but John saves Marlena. Shane accepts an ISA assignment in Europe and leaves Salem. Vivian and Victor spend time together. A boy, Nicholas, arrives in Salem to see Vivian. She claims that she adopted him from an unwed maid, but he is really Carly and Lawrence’s son. Lisanne learns the truth and argues with Vivian; Nicholas, trying to protect Vivian, shoves Lisanne, causing her death. Vivian has a heart attack when she fears the truth will come out. Lawrence covers up the death to protect Nikki. Victor reveals that Vivian plans to skip town with Nikki, so Carly runs out on her wedding to Bo. Vivian double-crosses Victor and takes Nikki to a secret location, but Bo recovers him and returns him to his parents. Hope becomes interested in her neighbor, Austin Reed, who is secretly running a gambling ring. She gets him a job playing piano at Wings, and his sister, Billie, becomes the new singer. Hope “kidnaps” Austin to stop him from participating in a fixed boxing match, unaware that he knows it’s fixed and needs the money. Jack learns that he isn’t dying after all. Melissa gives birth to their daughter, Abigail. Jack finds a manuscript in their attic, edits it, and shops it to publishers under the name Miranda Miller. Melissa works on a talk show in New York with Calliope. Jack and Melissa ask for Mickey’s help buying The Spectator from Julie. Kimberly exhibits multiple personalities and, while one of her alters is in control, accidentally stabs a man who tries to assault her. Her alter sends the kids to Europe to be with Shane. Philip realizes what is happening. Roman tries to confront Kim but is shot. He lands in a coma.

Carrie (Christie Clark) and Sami (Alison Sweeney)…
or Hope and Jennifer?

1993

As it happened: Marlena has Kimberly released into her care and works to prove that she really does have multiple personalities. Kim leaves to join Philip back in L.A. Julie returns to Switzerland and remarries Doug. Jack, who wants to buy The Spectator before Victor can, finds a stash of money hidden in an old barn — unaware that Billie has hidden it for Cash Bowman. Victor hires Kate Roberts as an executive at Titan Publishing. Kate used to live in Jack and Jennifer’s house and returns there in search of her old journal, but she can’t find it. Needing to return Cash’s money, Billie swipes Jack’s manuscript and takes it to Titan. Kate is convinced that Billie plagiarized her own journal. Victor romances Kate. Marlena struggles with feelings for both Roman and John. John dates D.A. Rebecca Morrison. Marlena and Roman’s teen daughter, Sami, returns from Colorado. John plans to leave town, but Marlena stops him, and they have sex. Though they vow it can’t happen again, it does — and Sami witnesses it. Lawrence and Carly try to protect Nikki from charges relating to Lisanne’s death. Lawrence hires Bo’s partner, Taylor McCall, to help him bring Bo down, and he gets Bo thrown off the police force. Vivian has her henchman, Ivan, cut Carly’s brakes, and Billie saves Carly’s life after a crash. Vivian works to make Nikki reject Carly as his mother. Acid that is meant for Austin is thrown in Carrie’s face instead, scarring her. She blames Austin and rejects his marriage proposal. Sami is smitten with Austin. Abe wants to start a family, while Lexie is hesitant to bring a child into the world. Abe’s brother, Jonah, helps a homeless girl, Wendy Reardon, deliver her son in a cab. Kate’s son, Lucas, arrives in Salem from military school and wants to know who his father is. Tom Horton recalls delivering Lucas and that Kate was a battered wife. Vivian falls off a balcony trying to kill Carly and, after Carly performs surgery, Vivian is left paralyzed. Billie saves Bo from Taylor. Marlena discovers she’s pregnant. Sami switches the DNA results to show that Roman is the baby’s father. Sami struggles with bulimia. John saves a woman named Kristen Blake, who reports back to a wheelchair-bound man wearing a phoenix ring. Kristen swears to her brother, Peter, that she doesn’t have feelings for John. Kristen and Peter’s adoptive father is Stefano DiMera, and Kristen is secretly betrothed to Tony DiMera. Rebecca lets it slip to John that he might be the father of Marlena’s baby. Vivian fakes her paralysis and begins killing Carly’s patients to frame her for murder. She is about to kill Caroline Brady when Carly catches her. Vivian injects her with a mysterious drug that simulates death and has Carly buried alive. Lawrence saves Carly before it’s too late, but she has amnesia and thinks she is in Paris ten years earlier. Bo has trouble moving forward with Billie because of his feelings for Carly. Carly regains her memory when she reunites with Nicholas, and she chooses to leave for Europe with Lawrence and their son. Vivian is thrown into Pine Haven Sanitarium, where Laura Horton is also a patient. Kate harbors a secret interest in Laura. Vivian learns that something involving Kate happened 18 years earlier, causing Laura to become catatonic. Lucas supports Carrie when she wins the Face of the 90s modeling contest and finally has successful skin grafts. Jonah is secretly acting the Pacifier, a vigilante, and Lexie learns his secret. She tries to take the fall to protect him, but Jonah is found out and kicked out of medical school. Abigail is diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Austin turns out to be a bone-marrow match and donates to save her life. Jack realizes that the pollution that caused Abby’s illness was the result of careless dumping that he and Harper signed off on years earlier. Guilt-ridden, he leaves town. Alice and Maggie invest in Billie’s new cosmetics company. Billie and Austin’s father, Curtis, arrives and claims that he has been in Witness Protection; he is taking orders from Peter. Kate accepts Victor’s marriage proposal, and he wants her to bear his child. Curtis taunts and drugs Billie, and he later turns up dead. Billie is arrested. John and Kristen help Marlena deliver a daughter, Isabella (Belle). Sami kidnaps the baby to sell her on the black market. John and Kristen catch Sami before she can skip town and return the baby to Marlena and Roman on Christmas Eve. Doug and Julie visit for the holidays.

Notes: Where there’s a Carrie, there has to be a Sami… but since Carrie is now Hope, we have to adjust Sami accordingly. So here comes another big one: the Alison Sweeney character becomes Jennifer Horton, Hope’s younger cousin who grew up with a fractured family and resents how Hope seems to be so #blessed. Sami’s story can be adjusted to fit Jennifer pretty easily, given what goes on with the return of Laura Horton and Kate’s backstory, but Jennifer wouldn’t have any reason to resent Marlena’s affair with John or the baby that results from it. The real Sami is only nine years old at this point, and thus unable to do much effective kidnapping, but a Carrie who’s about 16 is primed for some kidnapping action. In essence, we’re dividing Sami’s stories between Jennifer and Carrie. Confused yet? Read on…

The revised story: Marlena has Kimberly released into her care and works to prove that she really does have multiple personalities. Kim leaves to join Philip back in L.A. Julie returns to Switzerland and remarries Doug. Jack, who wants to buy The Spectator before Victor can, finds a stash of money hidden in an old barn — unaware that Billie has hidden it for Cash Bowman. Victor hires Kate Roberts as an executive at Titan Publishing. Kate used to live in Jack and Melissa’s house and returns there in search of her old journal, but she can’t find it. Needing to return Cash’s money, Billie swipes Jack’s manuscript and takes it to Titan. Kate is convinced that Billie plagiarized her own journal. Victor romances Kate. Marlena struggles with feelings for both Roman and John. John dates D.A. Rebecca Morrison. Marlena and Roman’s teen daughter, Carrie, returns from Colorado wants her father and Marlena to work things out. John plans to leave town, but Marlena stops him, and they have sex. Though they vow it can’t happen again, it does — and Carrie witnesses it. Lawrence and Carly try to protect Nikki from charges relating to Lisanne’s death. Lawrence hires Bo’s partner, Taylor McCall, to help him bring Bo down, and he gets Bo thrown off the police force. Vivian has her henchman, Ivan, cut Carly’s brakes, and Billie saves Carly’s life after a crash. Vivian works to make Nikki reject Carly as his mother. Acid that is meant for Austin is thrown in Hope’s face instead, scarring her. She blames Austin and rejects his marriage proposal. Jennifer is smitten with Austin. Abe wants to start a family, while Lexie is hesitant to bring a child into the world. Abe’s brother, Jonah, helps a homeless girl, Wendy Reardon, deliver her son in a cab. Kate’s son, Lucas, arrives in Salem from military school and wants to know who his father is. Tom Horton recalls delivering Lucas and that Kate was a battered wife. Vivian falls off a balcony trying to kill Carly and, after Carly performs surgery, Vivian is left paralyzed. Billie saves Bo from Taylor. Marlena discovers she’s pregnant. Carrie switches the DNA results to show that Roman is the baby’s father. Following some disturbing visits to her mother, Laura, in the sanitarium, Jennifer struggles with bulimia. John saves a woman named Kristen Blake, who reports back to a wheelchair-bound man wearing a phoenix ring. Kristen swears to her brother, Peter, that she doesn’t have feelings for John. Kristen and Peter’s adoptive father is Stefano DiMera, and Kristen is secretly betrothed to Tony DiMera. Rebecca lets it slip to John that he might be the father of Marlena’s baby. Vivian fakes her paralysis and begins killing Carly’s patients to frame her for murder. She is about to kill Caroline Brady when Carly catches her. Vivian injects her with a mysterious drug that simulates death and has Carly buried alive. Lawrence saves Carly before it’s too late, but she has amnesia and thinks she is in Paris ten years earlier. Bo has trouble moving forward with Billie because of his feelings for Carly. Carly regains her memory when she reunites with Nicholas, and she chooses to leave for Europe with Lawrence and their son. Vivian is thrown into Pine Haven Sanitarium, where Laura Horton is also a patient. Kate harbors a secret interest in Laura. Vivian learns that something involving Kate happened 18 years earlier, causing Laura to become catatonic. Lucas supports Hope when she wins the Face of the 90s modeling contest and finally has successful skin grafts. Jonah is secretly acting the Pacifier, a vigilante, and Lexie learns his secret. She tries to take the fall to protect him, but Jonah is found out and kicked out of medical school. Abigail is diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Austin turns out to be a bone-marrow match and donates to save her life. Jack realizes that the pollution that caused Abby’s illness was the result of careless dumping that he and Harper signed off on years earlier. Guilt-ridden, he leaves town. Alice and Maggie invest in Billie’s new cosmetics company. Billie and Austin’s father, Curtis, arrives and claims that he has been in Witness Protection; he is taking orders from Peter. Kate accepts Victor’s marriage proposal, and he wants her to bear his child. Curtis taunts and drugs Billie, and he later turns up dead. Billie is arrested. John and Kristen help Marlena deliver a daughter, Isabella (Belle). Carrie kidnaps the baby to sell her on the black market. John and Kristen catch Carrie before she can skip town and return the baby to Marlena and Roman on Christmas Eve. Doug and Julie visit for the holidays.

Melissa Horton Deveraux (Melissa Reeves) falls
for Stefano’s adopted son, Peter Blake (Jason Brooks).

1994

As it happened: Stefano has Peter steal Sami’s diary and thus learns of Marlena’s affair with John. He forces her to admit the truth at Belle’s christening. Roman and Marlena divorce, and he leaves on a government mission. After narrowly avoiding a lobotomy at Pine Haven, Vivian escapes with Laura. John shoots out Stefano’s tires, seemingly killing him, though Stefano has once again faked his death. Billie stands trial for Curtis’s murder, but it turns out Stefano did it. Austin and Billie are revealed to be the children whom Curtis told Kate had died. Billie blames Kate for what Curtis did to her; her history keeps her from getting physical with Bo. Jennifer signs divorce papers and grows closer to Peter. Tony and Kristen wed. Bill returns, and Laura outs the truth: that he is Lucas’s father. Because of Curtis, Kate’s marriage to Victor is ruled invalid. Kate and Victor attempt in-vitro fertilization. Vivian schemes and has herself implanted with their embryo. She weasels her way into living at the Kiriakis mansion. Billie helps Sami’s friend, Jamie Caldwell, who is being molested by her father. Alan Harris becomes obsessed with Carrie and targets Sami to get to her. He rapes Sami. When Carrie is called to testify about Sami’s character, Alan goes free. Sami blames her and partners with Lucas to break up Carrie and Austin. Kristen goes to the DiMeras’ plantation, Maison Blanche, in New Orleans. Stefano throws John in a dungeon at Maison Blanche and plans to control his mind again, while Kristen unknowingly plans to hold a charity cotillion there. Mike Horton returns to Salem, haunted by memories of something that happened in Israel. Lexie applies to medical school and fights her attraction to her brother-in-law, Jonah. A woman being held prisoner at Maison Blanche looks just like Hope Brady. She has amnesia but says her name is Gina. A fire at Maison Blanche leaves Tony blind. Tom Horton passes away in his sleep, and Doug, Julie, Marie, Melissa, and Kim return for his funeral. Stefano’s henchwoman, Celeste Perrault, feeds Gina memories about Hope’s life with Bo. Gina’s DNA test is inconclusive. John begins an affair with Kristen but learns that he was once a priest. When Jack returns, he is distraught to see Jennifer with Peter. Laura takes a liking to Daniel Scott, who is working with Peter to gaslight her. Laura and Jack separately check into a healing facility, The Meadows, and begin an affair, not knowing each other’s true identities. Mike reveals that he was forced into arms-running in Israel, and Celeste uses this knowledge to make him assist Stefano with a mission. Stefano begins visiting Marlena in the night, leaving her susceptible to evil forces. Gina realizes that she is being fed Hope’s memories, and Bo proposes to Billie. A mysterious “Desecrator” tries to destroy Christmas in Salem — and is revealed to be a possessed Marlena. During Bo and Billie’s wedding in St. Luke’s Church, Marlena causes the chandelier to fall.

Notes: There are no wackadoo aging issues this year, aside from adjusting the names we’ve already changed, but a different sort of issue arises: Lucas’s involvement with the Carrie and Sami characters can’t carry over to their replacements, Hope and Jennifer, because they’re his cousin and sister, respectively. I thought about de-Hortonizing Lucas, but his parentage is too big a plot point during this era. So we’ll have to modify that quadrangle a bit as we go on. It’s also a little wonky that Peter, though involved with Melissa, winds up targeting Laura, so we have to motivate that. On the plus side, we can do the Laura/Jack affair without the ickiness of Jack having bedded mother and daughter.

When Olivia doppelgänger Gina (Kristian Alfonso)
arrives, what will it mean for Bo (Robert Kelker Kelly)
and Billie (Lisa Rinna)?

The revised story: Stefano has Peter steal Carrie’s diary and thus learns of Marlena’s affair with John. He forces her to admit the truth at Belle’s christening. Roman and Marlena divorce, and he leaves on a government mission. After narrowly avoiding a lobotomy at Pine Haven, Vivian escapes with Laura. John shoots out Stefano’s tires, seemingly killing him, though Stefano has once again faked his death. Billie stands trial for Curtis’s murder, but it turns out Stefano did it. Austin and Billie are revealed to be the children whom Curtis told Kate had died. Billie blames Kate for what Curtis did to her; her history keeps her from getting physical with Bo. Melissa signs divorce papers and grows closer to Peter. Tony and Kristen wed. Bill returns, and Laura outs the truth: that he is Lucas’s father. Because of Curtis, Kate’s marriage to Victor is ruled invalid. Kate and Victor attempt in-vitro fertilization. Vivian schemes and has herself implanted with their embryo. She weasels her way into living at the Kiriakis mansion. Billie helps Sami’s friend, Jamie Caldwell, who is being molested by her father. Alan Harris becomes obsessed with Hope and targets Jennifer to get to her. He rapes Jennifer. When Hope is called to testify about Jennifer’s character, Alan goes free. Jennifer blames her and partners with Lucas plans to break up Hope and Austin. Kristen goes to the DiMeras’ plantation, Maison Blanche, in New Orleans. Stefano throws John in a dungeon at Maison Blanche and plans to control his mind again, while Kristen unknowingly plans to hold a charity cotillion there. Mike Horton returns to Salem, haunted by memories of something that happened in Israel. Lexie applies to medical school and fights her attraction to her brother-in-law, Jonah. A woman being held prisoner at Maison Blanche looks just like Olivia Brady. She has amnesia but says her name is Gina. A fire at Maison Blanche leaves Tony blind. Tom Horton passes away in his sleep, and Doug, Julie, Marie, Janice, and Kim return for his funeral. Stefano’s henchwoman, Celeste Perrault, feeds Gina memories about Olivia’s life with Bo. Gina’s DNA test is inconclusive. John begins an affair with Kristen but learns that he was once a priest. When Jack returns, he is distraught to see Melissa with Peter. Laura takes a liking to Daniel Scott, who is working with Peter to gaslight her because Laura has inadvertently stumbled on evidence of the DiMeras’ misdeeds. Laura and Jack separately check into a healing facility, The Meadows, and begin an affair, not knowing each other’s true identities. Mike reveals that he was forced into arms-running in Israel, and Celeste uses this knowledge to make him assist Stefano with a mission. Stefano begins visiting Marlena in the night, leaving her susceptible to evil forces. Gina realizes that she is being fed Olivia’s memories, and Bo proposes to Billie. A mysterious “Desecrator” tries to destroy Christmas in Salem — and is revealed to be a possessed Marlena. During Bo and Billie’s wedding in St. Luke’s Church, Marlena causes the chandelier to fall.

So where does that leave us? Well, in the middle of an insane storyline, for starters — but also with some pivotal players in very different roles. Melissa Horton is torn between her ex, Jack Deveraux, and her new lover, Peter Blake. Bo is ready to move on with Billie, but Kristian Alfonso’s appearance as Gina threatens that. There’s a major rivalry heating up between Horton cousins Hope (Christie Clark) and Jennifer (Alison Sweeney). And teenage Carrie Brady (who’s played by some imaginary actress) caused trouble by kidnapping her not-really-half-sister, Belle, while Sami and Eric are still in grade school.

Next time, we’ll take on 1995-99 — which means the births of Philip Kiriakis, Will Horton, and Elvis DiMera, plus the SORASing of the entire Last Blast teen scene. Get the Advil ready…

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Tags: 50th Anniversary, Memories, UnSORASING Project

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